Rape victim taken off ventilator, infection setting in, say doctors

Five days after her brutal gangrape in Delhi, the 23-year-old paramedical student was today taken off ventilator support but she showed early signs of infection setting in, as government vowed to file the chargesheet in the case "quickly" and seek maximum punishment of life term for the six accused.

Even as protests continued for the fifth day here including at India Gate over the dastardly crime in a moving bus on Sunday night, Government complimented Delhi Police for cracking the "blind case" within a very short span of time.

Union Home Secretary R K Singh told a press conference that the police have been able to arrest right persons—five of them were arrested--while one was still on the run.

Singh said henceforth no 'gunda gardi' (rowdiness) and misbehaviour to women will be tolerated and police action will be visible on the ground.

But the heat was on the Police when the Delhi High Court slammed it for being "evasive" in its probe status report in providing details of its officers on patrol duty in the area covered by the bus in which the girl was gang-raped for about 40 minutes.

In an emotional moment, the male friend of the girl who was with her during the sexual assault met the victim for the first time at Safdarjang hospital during which she enquired from him about her assailants.

"She has shown some mixed response. She has shown some signs of improvement and there are some signs of deterioration. She is off the ventilator at the moment. She is no more on ventilator. She is breathing spontaneously on her own," Dr B D Athani, Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, told a press conference. She was on ventilator in the ICU since she was admitted on Sunday night.

On the deterioration in the girl's health, Athani said the level of Bilirubin, the yellow breakdown product of normal heme catabolism, has increased to five which is a cause of concern as it would affect liver.

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